THE RABBIT. 233 



valley. Away off were the yapping of a sheep-dog 

 and the soft low of cattle, while overhead the jack- 

 daws and the rooks sailed clamorously home to 

 roost. 



For nearly a year he had lived at my threshold, 

 but now I had seen him for the last time leaving 

 his pursuers far behind, as so often before, but 

 heading at last into that wonderland of gold and 

 crimson whither our vision could not follow. 



METHODS OF CATCHING. 



Rabbits are valuable for food, and, moreover, it 

 is necessary for man to take a heavy toll of their 

 numbers owing to the damage they do to the land. 

 It is doubtful whether they can be raised profitably 

 on grazing-land at the customary market-price, as 

 not only do they keep the grass closely cropped, 

 but also they kill a good deal of it, while a sheep 

 will not eat where a rabbit has been. All these 

 things being so, it may be as well to describe one 

 or two of the methods employed by rabbit-catchers 

 in their necessary work of keeping the rabbit 

 population within reasonable limits. 



One of the best rabbit-traps I know, and cer- 

 tainly the most humane, is the box-trap. This is 

 usually set in the surrounding wall of a wood 

 well peopled with rabbits. The rabbits leave the 

 wood every evening on their way to their feeding- 

 grounds, passing through holes in the wall wherever 

 there is a convenient runway for them. Let us 

 first describe the trap, when its manner of working 

 will become obvious. 



Its first essential feature is a wooden tunnel or 

 runway which is built into the wall. This runway 

 is provided with a false floor, which can be locked, 

 but which, when unlocked, immediately swings 



